"Shopping addiction" is really a disease
Liu Yan Niu Yajuan
This Sunday is about to usher in the "Double Twelve" promotion season, and many people are gearing up again to continue the unending shopping spree of "Double Eleven".
Some people shop because of actual needs in life, some people are out of psychological needs of "icing on the cake", but others are because of "addiction."
In psychology, there is a disease called "shopping addiction disorder", which is not a short-term shopping impulse, but a relatively long-lasting shopping spree.
Today, let’s talk about why shopping is addictive, and to what extent is it considered pathological.
1 What is a shopping addiction?
According to Xinhuanet, as of 24:00 on November 11, the total transaction volume of Tmall’s "Double Eleven" reached 540.3 billion yuan; as of 23:59 on November 11, the cumulative amount of orders placed on the Jingdong platform exceeded 349.1 billion yuan, exceeding same time last year……
Are so many people addicted to shopping?
Naturally not.
From the perspective of psychology, shopping can be divided into three levels, normal shopping, excessive shopping, and shopping addiction.
Most people's shopping behavior is normal shopping, occasionally impulsive consumption or exceeding budget.
Excessive shopping is a shopping behavior that lies between normal shopping and shopping addiction. The quantity of goods purchased exceeds expectations or the amount of consumption exceeds expectations, and this behavior occurs repeatedly, but it has little impact on daily life and does not affect oneself. Cause obvious distress.
To put it simply, over-shoppers like products.
However, if shoppers change from liking products to feeling like shopping, they feel uncomfortable if they don't buy them, but feel regret and guilt after buying them, and they cannot control their shopping behaviors, they may become addicted to shopping.
2 What are the reasons for compulsive shopping?
Shopping addiction, also known as compulsive shopping disorder, is a mental illness.
Patients experience satisfaction during the shopping process, even if they realize that the shopping behavior obviously has a negative impact on their lives, they cannot control themselves.
In the outpatient clinic, we encountered such a typical case.
In recent years, Ms. Cheng will not only spend crazily during the "Double Eleven" and "Double 12", she also maintains this "high-pitched" desire to buy at ordinary times. The shopping cart is always full, sometimes just Dozens of brands are selected for the same type of cosmetics.
She bought dozens of bags of rice during Double Eleven this year, each of which weighed 10 kilograms, which far exceeded the food intake of a family of three.
With the strong persuasion of her family, she finally came to the psychological clinic.
Ms. Cheng told the doctor that she enjoys the process of choosing products, especially when she chooses discounted promotional products, she will have a sense of pleasure, so every year in the promotion season, she fights all night and even empties her shopping cart.
On the second day, she regretted and hated her behavior again.
But it didn't take long before she "healed the scar and forgot the pain", ignoring the mountain of goods in her home, and continued to frantically scan the orders, falling into a vicious circle, "I understand in my heart that this is not right and normal, but it is addictive and can't be controlled. "
Ms. Cheng is a typical shopping addiction disorder patient.
There is a strong desire for shopping behavior, short-term pleasure and excitement after shopping, and self-blame after purchase is difficult to control, causing personal pain, debt or family problems, it can be regarded as a shopping addiction disorder.
Shopping addiction disorder was first proposed by German psychiatrist Emil Kraepelin in 1915, who called this disorder a "buying frenzy".
In the past, it was believed that shopping addiction only appeared in developed countries. In fact, it has occurred on a global scale. It has no causal relationship with economic ability.
The etiology of shopping addiction is complex and related to biological, psychological, social and other factors.
The brain reward effect is a complex and interesting physiological mechanism.
If the shopping behavior brings a feeling of great enjoyment and joy to the shopper, when the shopper wants this feeling next time, they will do the same thing to please themselves.
The generation of this sense of pleasure is controlled by the brain's reward system loop.
Those with introverted personality, lack of hobbies, small social circle, unsuccessful encounters, and lack of family support are more likely to develop shopping addiction.
Although the Internet has greatly facilitated our lives, people's social circles and activity circles have also decreased.
People don't have to meet frequently, and many problems are communicated on the Internet and mobile phones, which may make people become more and more lonely and self-conscious.
They use buying behavior as a compensatory behavior to alleviate feelings of isolation and loneliness, vent pressure, seek comfort, and gain happiness.
In addition, convenient consumption methods and ubiquitous consumer advertisements also create opportunities for shopping addiction.
3 What are the clinical diagnostic criteria for addiction
If you want to make a preliminary judgment on the tendency of shopping addiction, you can observe whether you show the following 4 characteristics.
1. Intoxication Most addicts describe their shopping experience as "a process full of pleasure and passion."
When they buy, they feel positive emotions, which are similar to those after drinking.
2. Shopping addicts experience uncontrollable needs and increasing tension, and can only release tension and depression through shopping.
This tension will temporarily dissipate through consumption, but it will soon produce a sense of guilt to replace the spiritual joy brought by shopping.
3. When an out-of-control shopping addict sees the amount of money they spend afterwards, they often regret it, but still cannot control their shopping behavior.
4. Withdrawal When shopping addicts think that they have missed an important purchase opportunity, they will feel regret, anxiety and nervousness, similar to clinical withdrawal symptoms (referring to the special psychophysiological symptoms that occur after stopping the use of drugs or reducing the dose group).
In the opinion of the psychologist, if the following two points are met, the diagnostic criteria for shopping addiction is basically reached.
●Excessive attention to purchase and consumption behavior, or excessive purchase and consumption impulse behavior, showing at least one of the following characteristics: excessive attention to purchase behavior, or purchase impulse is irresistible, intrusive or unknowing; Often purchase items that exceed the purchasing capacity, unneeded items, or often spend too much time on the purchase.
● Concern for purchase and purchase behavior are uncontrollable, time-consuming, obviously interfering with daily life or professional functions, or generating financial crises (such as debt or bankruptcy).
However, for some patients with bipolar disorder, who have the above 2 performances, they cannot be easily diagnosed.
Hypomanic or manic episodes are a clinical aspect of bipolar disorder, typically manifested as elevated mood, energetic, increased activity, overconfidence or exaggeration, as well as reduced need for sleep, impulsive or reckless behavior, etc.
If there is impulsive shopping during the period of hypomania or mania, once the symptoms of hypomania or mania are relieved, the shopping behavior will stop, then the main problem of the patient is affective disorder and cannot be diagnosed as shopping addiction; vice versa. , After the symptoms of hypomania or mania are relieved, impulsive shopping behavior still exists, then the diagnosis of shopping addiction can be made.
4 Why is the proportion of female patients as high as 90%
The age of onset of shopping addiction is mostly between 18 and 30 years old, and 90% of them are women.
The epidemiological study of shopping addiction behavior originated in the 1880s. At that time, a survey based on the American population found that the prevalence rate was about 5.8%, and 80%-92% of the affected population were women.
A survey in the United Kingdom shows that gender differences are real. This may be because some women are born with delicate and rich emotions, love beautiful things, and are also prone to instantaneous purchase impulses due to certain emotional influences.
Compared with men, women are more likely to obtain spiritual satisfaction through shopping, enjoy physical and mental pleasure, relieve stress, and express emotions.
In other words, women’s emotions and mental states may have a greater impact on shopping behavior than men.
Judging from the age of onset, adults aged 18-30 have a certain degree of financial ability, and most of them have no living burdens such as old-age care and childcare, and are more prone to shopping addiction.
On the other hand, minors’ economic independence has suppressed the desire to consume to some extent, and shopping addiction is relatively rare.
The life pressure of adults over 30 years old, especially the economic pressure, is relatively high, and shopping is relatively rational.
5 Can shopping addiction be prevented?
From the clinical situation, a person has frequent and uncontrolled excessive shopping behaviors, which needs to be vigilant and appropriately controlled.
This is because if shoppers are introverted, lack hobbies, have a small social circle, and experience unsatisfactory life, the above-mentioned shopping behaviors may develop into shopping addiction.
To prevent shopping addiction, we can start from the following aspects.
First of all, it is recommended to develop the habit of "planning" before shopping. You can usually list the items you need and only shop according to the listed list.
Second, develop the habit of keeping accounts and reduce blind expenditures.
Third, include shopping time in the schedule and limit a rough time period to avoid over-shopping caused by too long selection time.
Fourth, many people who love shopping have the habit of using credit cards or spending first and then repaying. They indulge in overdraft payment methods, which is not conducive to developing reasonable consumption habits.
Therefore, it is recommended that people who are prone to impulsive consumption try not to use overdraft payments and control their buying behavior.
People who have been diagnosed as shopping addicts are advised to intervene under the guidance of specialists. Psychotherapy is the most effective method.
Through psychotherapy, change their bad cognition, learn to control impulse, self-monitor buying behavior, deal with bad emotions, find more fun in life, etc. Individual patients also need symptomatic medication.
Through comprehensive treatment based on individual conditions, good clinical effects are usually achieved.
Further reading
Why promotion is easy to "ferment" shopping wishes
Promotional activities are often easy to "ferment" people's shopping desires and achieve more consumption purposes than expected.
The psychological reasons are nothing more than "herd mentality", "expecting to win" and "owning a sense of control".
Herd mentality
Promotional days such as "Double Eleven" and "Double Twelve" created by the Internet are conveying the concept that the most favorable price for buying things is this time of year.
This is actually a kind of "concept output".
Concept output and implantation have made more and more people willing to follow the trend and consume at this time, regardless of whether they really have consumption needs.
Look forward to winning
In the bottom of everyone's heart, I long to be the lucky one and the winner.
During the promotional activities, various timed grabs and discounts increased the tension, and also allowed consumers who believed that they had grabbed the goods at the best price to experience the thrill of victory and the happiness of being a lucky person.
Although this process is a bit painful, it makes people feel that they have seized the opportunity through hard work.
In addition, this timed purchase method can create a sense of urgency, especially for products that are purchased in a limited time, so that consumers who are originally on the sidelines or hesitate to secrete adrenaline and make purchase decisions in a short time.
Have a sense of control
In our lives, many things have uncertainty, but when "buy, buy, buy", it means that an item is about to or already has absolute control. This is a sense of control, to a certain extent It helps to relieve depression and is an unspeakable psychological impulse.
(Author: Beijing Huilongguan Hospital)